Audio 3:24
Regional sawmills may take Tasmanian World Heritage Area timber

Felicity OgilvieUpdated
Mon 3 Feb 2014, 9:02 PM AEDT

As the Federal Government asks the World Heritage Committee to revoke some of the new areas of forest protected under the forest peace deal, the State Opposition is saying those areas would be available for logging. While the state's largest native forest producer isn't interested in getting wood from the world heritage extension, the Tasmanian Sawmillers Association says several regional mills would use regrowth logs.

Transcript

MARK COLVIN: The Tasmanian forest peace plan is again in danger of collapse.

This time the blame is being directed towards politicians rather than the old enemies who brokered the deal.

What's at risk of unravelling is the deal thrashed out over three years between old enemies from the environmental movement and the timber industry.

Felicity Ogilvie reports from Hobart.

FELICITY OGILVIE: Protecting some of Tasmania's most fought over old growth forests in an extension of the World Heritage Area is the centrepiece of the forest peace deal.

But the deal that was endorsed by state and federal Labor is unravelling.

The new Federal Government is writing to the World Heritage Committee asking for the extension to be reduced by almost half because it contains regrowth and plantations.

One of the brokers of the peace deal, Phill Pullinger from Environment Tasmania, says the request also includes old growth forests.

PHILL PULLINGER: They are the tallest forests in the southern hemisphere. You're talking about individual trees that are more than 400 years old, and up to 100 metres in height.

FELICITY OGILVIE: Tasmanians go to the polls next month and the Liberal Opposition plan to overturn the peace deal if they win government. That would free any new reserves taken out of the World Heritage Area for logging.

But there's a real question over the question why?

The biggest native timber processor in Tasmania, Ta Ann, says it has no desire to use wood from the new World Heritage Area.

The executive director of Ta Ann, Evan Rolley.

EVAN ROLLEY: The company's made it very clear, we made a business decision over 12 months ago that we would only be supplied and process logs for the new manufacture that came from areas agreed under the Tasmanian Forest Agreement.

FELICITY OGILVIE: Vica Bayley from the Wilderness Society says he doesn't understand why the Liberals want to revoke the World Heritage Area.

VICA BAYLEY: It makes absolutely no sense from an ecological or a world heritage perspective. It makes absolutely no sense from an industry or worker perspective. And it clearly makes no sense to reignite the conflict by logging these areas.

FELICITY OGILVIE: But the state's shadow forestry minister, Peter Gutwein says the market will decide who will take the timber.

PETER GUTWEIN: We're seeing a systematic destruction of the forest industry in Tasmania under this current government. It was only last week that I was speaking with one of the last remaining small to medium size sawmill operations in the state, and they're telling me that they have got very strong demand.

At the moment we don't have enough timber to satisfy demand of our mills in Tasmania. It's a fact. We've currently, we've got 12 smaller mills that are exiting, we've got another five that are faced with exit and have no other prospect other than to take an exit package and get out because they can't receive the amount of wood that they need.

FELICITY OGILVIE: One fine furniture maker who is opposed to the peace deal has already said he's interested in getting timber from old forests in the new world heritage areas.

And a spokesman from the Tasmanian Sawmillers Association says that several regional mills would use logs from the world heritage area if the extension were revoked.

But he stresses that the mills would be after regrowth rather than old growth timber.

What happens next is partly in the hands of the World Heritage Committee and partly in the hands of the voters of Tasmania on the 15th of March.